Care partner engagement in patient safety at the direct care level in hospital: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to understand the experiences of care partner engagement in patient safety at the direct care level from the perspective of care partners, patients, and health care professionals.

Introduction: Care partner engagement is a strategy for promoting patient safety in hospitals at the direct care level (ie, at the point where patient care is delivered). When present, care partners can increase safety by watching, listening, and taking action to protect admitted patients. To improve care partner presence policies and safety engagement strategies within hospitals, a comprehensive understanding of the current qualitative evidence about the breadth of experiences of care partner engagement in patient safety is required.

Inclusion criteria: This review will include qualitative studies that consider the experiences of care partners, adult patients, and health care professionals. The engagement of care partners in patient safety within pediatric hospital settings will not be considered.

Methods: This review will follow the JBI methodology for systematic reviews of qualitative evidence. A preliminary literature search was conducted in MEDLINE and a full search strategy was developed for MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO (all via Ovid), as well as the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and JBI Evidence Synthesis. The JBI approach to study selection, critical appraisal, data extraction, data synthesis, and assessment of confidence will be followed. Two reviewers will test the screening criteria and data extraction protocol.

Systematic review registration number: PROSPERO CRD42023476286.